Flexible Soldier and Machine Interface for Micro Air Vehicles

: The work reported here focused on the creation of a user friendly and flexible connection between the autopilot of a micro air vehicle and a laptop computer based ground station, and deployment of this environment to a micro air vehicle research flight test program. The objective in creating the ground station Graphical User Interface (GUI) was to provide basic connectivity to the air vehicle sensor suite. This includes the ability to send and receive control parameters, servo calibration parameters, sensor calibration parameters, and mission waypoints. Another objective of the autopilot interface is to connect it with the FalconView software package so route waypoints can be defined and current GPS fixes can be plotted on a map. It is also desirable to display time history data in real time as it is received. The objective to employ the developed interface to a micro air vehicle test program was fulfilled during a parafoil and payload micro air vehicle test program. The developed GUI was employed successfully on an autonomous parafoil airdrop program where direct longitudinal control was achieved through dynamic incidence angle changes of the parafoil canopy. Addition of this extra control channel requires simple rigging changes and an additional servo actuator. A set of air drops from an altitude of around 300 m was performed to demonstrate and validate glide slope control authority using dynamic incidence angle control. The ability of dynamic incidence angle to alter the glide slope of a parafoil and payload aircraft was demonstrated through a flight test program with a micro parafoil system.